So I got invited to a baby shower for twins. The parents are newbies and are kind of just riding off of what looks good on Amazon.com and such. I want to get them something they would use, they obviously have car seats, cloth diapers (not sure if that will last or not) and burp cloths on the list.

Is there anything else that would help newbie parents who won't even have a spare hand since they will have 2 little ones? Right now I'm kind of leaning towards an Amazon gift card so they can pick up whatever they need from their own home when they actually discover they need something. I'm a bit too far away to deliver meals and such which probably would help a lot too.

Easy to use gift card or cash. Not a gift card you have to go to a store to use (Amazon card sounds perfect). That or team up with someone else and get one of the pricier items on their list (like car seats or a co-sleeper). If it's not on their list already, a double car-seat carrying universal stroller is a good gift (I already know such things run ~$100 at stores like buy buy baby) - you might want to ask to make sure they'd like something like that. I found those universal stroller things enormously useful in the beginning (got one second hand). Gift certificates to their favorite restaurants (that deliver) might also be nice in lieu of bringing them meals.

Our most unanticipated wants were spare covers for anything with a removable cloth cover. Changing pad, sheets, pack and play sheets and changing table covers, nursing pillow covers...of course this involves knowing what brand/type they have for the basic thing.

We also found ourselves buying odds and ends like the Oxotot dish racks and bottle cleaners (they have a really cool 3 piece sippy cup cleaning set I just bought), the medela steam sterilizer bags and sterilizer wipes (if they'll have pump parts).. cloth wipes are something you can't really have too many of, even if they don't continue to CD they are useful for other things. Diaper wet bags are also a useful thing people don't necessarily think of with CDing. Small ones for on the go are nice along with large handled ones for laundry. Flushable or fleece liners and butt cream could also go in a CD kit.

I wouldn't assume they won't want the things on their registry or anything, though.

ETA two of the things we got at my shower that I wouldn't have anticipated quite how awesome they would be were little teether keys and a button-operated music player.. The latter has kept her calm on long car trips in a way we would never have guessed.

We had a very small baby shower at my husband's office. The best gift by far was that some people pitched in and got us a gift card to Babies R Us. Most of the random gifts/ clothes that we got from people we never used. But we were thrilled when we did a Babies R Us run post-baby and we could use that gift card. It was awesome.

An Amazon gift card would be equally awesome. Maybe even better because you don't have to leave the house.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5874Location: United States of New England

i havent actually had a kid yet but based on a similar experience with registering (wedding) i would say registeries are there because that's what people want. anything from a registry i would say is good because they picked it. i wouldnt stray off the registry too much unless you know them super well and know what they would like/need.

money is always good in whatever form would be useful to them.some people are anti-shopping online for reasons beyond me. an amazon gift card would be awesome in my eyes but i guess just think of whom your buying for and if they would really use it.

for our wedding i swear most people bought us crepe that wasnt on the registry and we didnt want/need and still havent used.

I would have given anything for one of those double strollers that you can attach the carseats to....but unfortunately they didn't have those when I had my twins 16 yrs ago.

I love the Amazon gift card idea and if they don't know about it yet there is a program for parents of babies on Amazon (I'm not sure what it's called but the prices are cheaper on diapers etc.).

Diapers are a given as a need for twins.

Depending on how much you want to spend and depending on whether or not they already have them....a really good camera & camcorder are amazing to have with babies. It would probably be more a combined gift with others since they are expensive.

Another idea is a gift card to photography place. Time goes by so fast and everything is so expensive with babies sometimes it's hard for new parents to afford a really nice photography sitting.

The great thing about a gift card is that they can use it for all of the things they don't know they need yet. : ) I think a gift card is a great idea if you decide not to get something from the registry.

i havent actually had a kid yet but based on a similar experience with registering (wedding) i would say registeries are there because that's what people want. anything from a registry i would say is good because they picked it. i wouldnt stray off the registry too much unless you know them super well and know what they would like/need.

money is always good in whatever form would be useful to them.

I'll say that babies are a whole different world. For weddings, you generally have a good idea of what sorts of things are needed in a house, but for a baby, when registering I was lost. You go through Babies R Us as a first time parent and they've thought of a niche product for everything. Literally. Parenting is something where others' wisdom can be very useful.

With that said, I totally agree on giving $. You find so much crepe you need in that first week or two, it's nice to have gift cards for backup.

My stepmother gave us a $500 credit for Amazon Mom (which gives you 2 day shipping free). We only just used it up, but every time I needed something and couldn't get it together to go to Target (which was the first 6 months of her life), I could order it online, often in the middle of the night, and it would get there within a day or two. It was great.

I still have a Target gift card I haven't used because it means remembering the gift card when you're trying to get everything in the car...

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

The amazon gift card sounds great. A Tofulish I would die for a $500 amazon gift card! You know I live on amazon. I put on my baby shower invites, in a kind way of course, that I only wanted items from the registry which worked out fantastic.

Yes, gift cards are wonderful. :) We found out a little late that the baby REALLY loved being swaddled in those expensive SwaddleMe things so we were able to purchase another one because of a late baby gift card!